Special editions are nothing new, and have become far too overused in my opinion. Ubisoft, however, is actually doing something special with its special edition of Prince of Persia. Rather than provide a "limited" edition version of the game for an increased price, Ubi will be "upgrading" copies to special edition status if they are pre-ordered for absolutely nothing.

The upgraded version of the game will include:

•       Collectable Limited Edition packaging
•       An exclusive look at the making of Prince of Persia
•       A Prima® digital mini-strategy guide full of developer's secrets to help players master the year's best action-adventure game
•       A digital art book that chronicles the game's journey from concept to winner of Best Artistic Design at E3 2008
•       The original soundtrack scored by master composer Inon Zur

Ubisoft is also promising "much more" with this bonus upgrade, but that remains to be seen. In other news, Web comic Penny Arcade will be working with Ubisoft to produce a  32-page comic book detailing the Prince's story. Hardly surprising, considering Penny Arcade and Ubi have collaborated in the past, but it should prove to be of interest to series fans. 

Hit the jump for the full press release.

UBISOFT ANNOUNCES FREE LIMITED EDITION UPGRADE WHEN YOU PRE-ORDER PRINCE OF PERSIA

UBISOFT ALSO TEAMS UP WITH PENNY ARCADE TO CREATE EXPANDED COMIC BOOK BASED ON THE NEW PRINCE OF PERSIA GAME

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – September 2, 2008 – Today, Ubisoft announced that gamers who pre-order the new Prince of Persia title in North America will receive a FREE upgraded Limited Edition version of the game.

The FREE Limited Edition Upgrade is only available by pre-ordering and will include in addition to the regular SKU:
•       Collectable Limited Edition packaging
•       An exclusive look at the making of Prince of Persia
•       A Prima® digital mini-strategy guide full of developer's secrets to help players master the year's best action-adventure game
•       A digital art book that chronicles the game's journey from concept to winner of Best Artistic Design at E3 2008
•       The original soundtrack scored by master composer Inon Zur
•       And much more…

Additionally, Ubisoft announced a partnership with Penny Arcade for the creation of a comic book based on the new Prince of Persia title. Penny Arcade, known for creating short video game-based comics, has accepted this sizable project as a response to their readers' overwhelming excitement about Prince of Persia's fresh new artistic style.

The expanded 32-page comic book will span roughly four times longer than the usual Penny Arcade comic and will allow the Prince's story to be creatively told in a robust, illustrative format. The comic book will also give readers a unique knowledge of the new Prince of Persia game as well as an enhanced understanding as to the relationship between Elika and the Prince.

Prince of Persia will be available Holiday 2008 for the Xbox 360(TM) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and PC. Also available this holiday exclusively for the Nintendo DS(TM) system, Prince of Persia: The Fallen King will complement the version coming out on consoles and PC.